Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/194

 174 the day before, the wife of the commissary, and I were the only ladies with the army. We were sitting together and bewailing our sad fate, when some one came in, and people whispered in each other's ears and looked sadly at each other. I noticed this, and that they were glancing at me, without saying anything more to me. This gave me a frightful idea that my husband had fallen. I screamed; but they assured me that this was not the case, and made signs to me that it was the poor lieutenant's wife whose husband had met with this misfortune. She was called out a moment later. Her husband was not yet dead, but a cannon ball had taken off his arm at the shoulder. We heard his moans all night, echoing horribly through the vaults of the cellar, and the poor man died towards morning. Otherwise this night was like the last. Meanwhile my husband came to see me, which soothed my trouble and gave me back my courage.

“The next morning we began to get into a little better order. Major Harnich and his wife and Madame Rennels made themselves a little room, shut off with curtains, in one corner. It was proposed to me to have another corner arranged in the same way, but I preferred to remain near the door, so that I could get out quicker in case of fire. I had a heap of straw brought, laid my beds on it, and slept there with my children. My women slept near us. Opposite were the quarters of three English officers, who were